Misfortune Incarnate
by Vin-the-Mazoku
Summary: Sokka finally proposes and Suki eagerly awaits the big day. But will a missing fiancé, a lovestruck earthbender and wedding jitters ruin the happy day? Sequel to Destiny Incarnate. Sukka!


.Misfortune Incarnate  
Chapter 1: Games.

_Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar!_

Slate gray eyes glanced down to the tabletop battlefield in front of her. She cupped her head in her hand and mentally swept the finely crafted stone board Her other hand absentmindedly flipped a small stone disc between her fingers as she contemplated its role in the current situation. Slowly she set the disc on one of the board's many etched squares, humming contently.

Pai-Sho wasn't exactly what Suki wanted to be spending her spare time on, especially on a lovely day like today. She couldn't even say she was a huge fan of the game, though she had developed a taste for it and would sit down for a game whenever boredom threatened to set in. She lifted her head and looked to her opponent. There were other incentives to playing the game as well.

The tan, sculpted man sitting across the table from her rubbed his chin as he took his turn playing out the many possible moves he could make in his head. Suki leaned in a bit, keeping her eyes glued to the changing expressions of her current adversary. The adversary in question was none other than her boyfriend, Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe. Getting a chance to watch him at a moment like this was more than enough to entice her into a game just about whenever he felt the urge to play.

As he sat and pondered and strained his mind over the predicament he faced Suki watched with a small smile painted across her face. As the various ideas blinked in and out of existence, she watched as his eyes would light up and the gears in his head start turning. His ingenuity was always something that she admired and watching him at a moment like this could send her head spinning.

In the time he had been living here on Kyoshi Island she was asked from time to time what she saw in the sometimes goofy, sometimes dimwitted Water Tribe boy. His cleverness was just one of the many things on the list of his qualities that had captured her heart .

"Your turn, Suki." When he received no answer he redirected his focus to the young woman's warm, trance-like stare.

"Hey Suki?" He called a bit louder. "You okay?"

"Huh? Sorry, what did you say?" Her trance broken and being caught staring caused a blush to grace her cheeks.

"It's your turn, is something wrong?"

"Oh no. Everything's fine," Suki made her move much quicker this time. "Just a little distracted."

"By...?" the young man pried, his voice taking a sly tone..

"Nothing in particular." Her blush deepened a bit as she played dumb. This was the the beginning of another sort of game the couple would play from time to time.

"Nothing, huh?" Sokka smugly smiled and leaned in closer to the flushed girl, forgetting Pai-Sho for the moment. "You were pretty lost in thought for 'nothing in particular'."

"Why don't you tell me what I was thinking about?" Suki playfully challenged as she purposely allowed the neckline of her green, sleeveless tunic to dive dangerously lower. A little distraction like this might weaken his strategy a bit, if not there were always other things in mind she could gain from it.

"Maybe..." it took nearly all of the young man's willpower to resist the bounty of flesh now available to him, "… you were fantasizing about a handsome, daring swordsman sweeping you off your feet, taking you somewhere peaceful and secluded and then taking his time slowly claiming inch by inch of your body for his own?"

Suki's blush nearly rivaled her hair by now as she stared in amorous amazement at Sokka. She could hardly believe that such a romantic statement came from the man in front of her.

"Well, you got the gist of it." Suki stood to catch the lips of her love in a soft, lingering kiss.

Sokka barely spared the time to look down and make his move."Looks like you got the better of me this time, I"ll have to surrender." Needless to say the board game was now far from his mind.

"The great Sokka surrendering? Maybe I should take you as a prisoner." Suki commented suggestively.

Sokka grinned deciding to play along, feigning fear."I just hope my captor doesn't have any cruel intentions in store for me."

"We'll see, we'll see." Taking her new captive by the hand, she led him into the small bedroom they shared together for over a year now.

Kyoshi island hadn't changed very drastically in the time Sokka had become a resident. As time passed on, more and more young men returned from the former war fronts filling the island with a few more fishermen, hunters and earthbenders, as well as a handful of newly expectant mothers.

Naturally with more children on the way, the boundaries of the little village had expanded to allow the construction of a few additional houses and more room to grow crops.

It was later in the afternoon now as Sokka stood overlooking the small garden that he and Suki had started. He frowned upon seeing that they hadn't got as much as a sprout to grow in the tilled soil yet. The garden, however, wasn't the only thing on the young man's mind.

Suki had mentioned visiting the dojo while she redid her hair just moments ago, the afterglow of their escapades finally fading. He casually told her he was going for a walk, trying his hardest to conceal his ulterior motive to getting away by himself.

Carefully, he fished out an emerald choker, which he had managed to sneak from her chest and keep without Suki noticing for nearly a week now. The plain, green choker was nearly the same it was when he had first bought it for her back when the war had just ended. It still felt soft and almost new, with small silver fasteners on the ends.

She never wore it very often, which bugged Sokka to no end. He wondered if she disliked it for some reason. Could it be too uncomfortable for her to wear? As his eyes focused on the deep blue stone that newly adorned the accessory.

For the past week he had been working on carving the blue center piece whenever he had some time alone. Even though the work was done under such secretive pressure and thus wasn't perfect, he took a lot of pride in it. One side of the smooth stone surface had the Earth Kingdom's symbol carved in it, the other side had the Water Tribe's symbol. He started to question himself on whether or not the etchings were too simple when a voice grabbed his attention.

"Whats up Sokka?" Suki's loving voice chimed causing Sokka to panic and attempt to quickly stuff the betrothal necklace in his pocket.

"Nothing, just looking over the garden." He calmly lied. "What are you doing up here? I thought you were going to check up on the other girls."

"I was, but then I saw a lonely guy standing up here all by himself and I thought I'd keep him company." Sokka had to resist backing away as she moved closer to him. "Hey what were you looking at before I got here?"

" I told you, just the garden."

"Not that silly," his attempt to derail her questions failed. "You had something in your hand."

"Nothing, I have no idea what you're talking about." In midst of his act, Sokka made the mistake of turning to face the inquisitive woman.

"Oh really? Then what's that hanging out of your pocket?" Her eyes instantly darted to the green strap hanging out of her lover's pocket.

"It's nothing, nothing at all." Sokka quickly turned away once again , his secret moments away from being blown unless he thought of something quickly.

"But it looked a lot like my missing choker."

So she noticed after all, and she even missed it. He wasn't sure to be happy or to continue his panicky charade. As she stepped forward to inspect him he swiftly spun past her.

"Sokka," hardened determination began to cloud her eyes, "just let me see what you have there."

He wanted to wait for the perfect moment to show her, but one look at the stark, seriousness in her eyes made him question his plans. Maybe now was as good of a time as ever.

"Alright, just do me a favor."He bargained.

"Yes?" Her gaze softened at his gentler tone.

"Just close your eyes for a bit. I want nothing else to ruin this moment."

Suki nodded and closed her eyes. Nervously she waited for something to happen, a touch or maybe a sound other the wind rustling the leaves all round her. When nothing came she decided to speak up.

"Sokka what are you doing? Whats going on?"

No answer came and finally she opened her eyes. Sokka was nothing more than a silhouette now, slowly shrinking as he dashed away like a mad man.

"Damn it, Sokka," her teeth were clenched so hard the words almost couldn't escape her lips, "get back here!" Without another moment lost she gave chase to the fleeing man.

Sokka worked his way around the numerous groups of villagers as he sprinted his way though the center of the settlement. Very few of them paid him any attention. It seemed like their Water Tribe neighbor was always doing something odd when he wasn't fishing or hunting.

As one of the few farms Kyoshi island was home to came into view an idea popped into the young warrior's head. He jumped into the first, somewhat shallow, pile of hay he came across. His plan was simple, wait here until Suki gave up the chase, find someone to hold on to the necklace for a while and try again when he was ready to propose. And if she should question his actions? Well, he could always convince her she was acting unreasonable and he was just trying to give her space. What he hadn't counted on was a farm hand seeing him leaping into the haystack.

"Sokka what in the world are you doing in there?" The burly man questioned, pitchfork in hand.

"Shhhh! Be quiet!" Sokka commanded.

The young worker rolled his eyes. "Seriously, I don't know what you're up to but get out of there."

"But I'm trying to hide from Suki." The meek plea failed to sway the skeptical man.

"Why, what did you do to her now?" He raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"Nothing this time, I swear!"

"Well anyways, I don't think there's enough hay here to fully cover you."

"What, really?" Sokka was a bit disappointed that his plan had fallen through so soon.

"Yeah, your ponytail's sticking out."

"For the last time, it's a traditional Water Tribe wolf tail!" Sokka poked his head out, bearing an angry glare.

"Whatever, but you better get your butt moving. Suki's a fast girl and should be here any second."

"Crap, crap, crap!" Sokka scrambled to feet, brushing off hay from his clothes and resuming his mad dash.

The farmhand could only shake his head while he calmly, although slightly annoyed, rebuilt the scattered haystack.

All of Sokka's speed and stealth seemed to pay off so far, with no sign of his pursuer he decided that the trunk of a large tree was a perfect place to rest his weary legs for a bit. A few moments of thoughtlessness passed before he started to cycle through people who he could pass the necklace on to.

Ty Lee was someone he had learned to trust more and more in the past year, maybe it would be for the best to leave it in her possession. A few leaves fell from the trees above him, slightly distracting him.  
Picking Ty Lee could turn out to be a mistake, the bubbly girl wasn't that great at keeping secrets. He couldn't see her keeping her mouth closed if he told her that he was planning to ask Suki to marry him soon. Then again he couldn't see any of the Kyoshi warriors keeping such a big secret from their leader for very long.

_"Well there goes a nice big group of people I can't call on to help me." _Sokka thought, his frustration getting to him.

But what about Oyaji? The kind old man had helped him plenty of times since he came to live here. Then again Oyaji wasn't the one to indulge him in his antics. Not to mention the elder was the closest thing Suki had to a father on the island, and when it came to asking for her hand in marriage the old man just made him more nervous. Once again rustling in the treetops tore his thoughts away from him.

When the rustling in the tree became too much Sokka glanced up, only to see Suki gracefully fall to the ground. Before he could do anything besides get back on his feet he was slammed chest first into the hard tree trunk. She swiftly snaked her arms around his, hugging them and binding them together behind his back. He struggled to free himself for a few seconds to no avail.

"Now listen Sokka, you're either going to tell me what I want to know or you're going to become very acquainted with this tree." She breathed heavily pressing him harder against the aforementioned tree.

"Alright, alright! Just let go of my arms first, please?"

"Nope, I've already gave you more trust than you deserve today." She tightened her hold on his captured limbs causing him to wince.

The two stood in the awkward position for a moment, while Sokka's mind raced, desperate for an escape plan. Suki carefully shuffled closer to him, tightening her grip even more as she did so. She didn't foresee that pressing her body closer to his would give him a chance to escape.

"I'll give you one last chance to let me go." Suki couldn't see the broad grin plastered across Sokka's features as he smugly threatened her.

"You're not really in the position t-" Suki was interrupted as one of Sokka's hands managed to sneak under her tunic and lightly touched the sensitive skin of her stomach. "Sokka please don't-"

"Too late!" Sokka showed no mercy as his fingers relentlessly fluttered across her soft abdomen. Within seconds, Sokka's appendages were freed and he was busy dodging his lover's flailing limbs.

"Okay Sokka," her words could barely be understood through her giggling."quit it, please!"

"I warned you didn't I?" Sokka taunted while a flying hand swatted him in the face. The struggled lasted a few more minutes before the young woman was left out of breath on the ground and her assailant resumed fleeing.

The tickling tactic bought him some time, but it was only moments before Suki was hot on his tail again. Without the time to plot any further, the Water Tribe warrior ran to the closest building he was familiar with, the dojo. Unfortunately, he barely had time to slide the door open before he was tackled from behind.

The young women training quickly took fighting positions, eventually calming down upon realizing the intruders were only their beloved captain and her odd boyfriend.

"Enough is enough Sokka, what are you keeping from me?" Suki straddled him, sitting on the small of his back.

The rest of the Kyoshi warriors were now interested in what Sokka had to say and the gathered around the fallen man.

Sighing, he thought on his position, try as he might he couldn't find a solution out of this situation. Even if he could escape he was out numbered now. Ready to concede, he managed to reach his pocket, retrieving the betrothal necklace. He meekly offered it to the girl sitting on his back.

She cradled the gift as if the entire thing was made of delicate glass. Sokka managed to roll over, gasping a bit as Suki's weight now pressed on his stomach. Although the scene didn't match his perfect vision he once had planned, he was still very satisfied seeing Suki's shocked expression, mouth agape.

"So..." his mind was failing to supply him with any romantic lines at the moment, "wanna get married?"

Suki seemed to have the same ailment as him, rather than answering with her voice she swooped down, embracing the man who had just lead her on a wild chase for the last hour or so. Tears formed at the corner of her eyes as she benevolently nuzzled him. The small crowd around them erupted in joyous cheers and congratulations.

It was a while yet before Suki actually gave him a verbal answer. They had left the dojo a while ago, allowing the other girls to wrap up their training. The sun was on its last limbs as the couple decided to stroll the beach before returning home.

"You're not angry at all for everything I put you through today, are you?" Sokka asked the girl who had been very attached to him ever since they left the others.

"Well you know how much I hate it when your so secretive around me, but I think I can forgive you under the current circumstances." She smiled as the fingers of her free hand traced over the stone's cool, smooth surface.

"Hey if you don't quit that you're going to wear the carving down before we have a chance to get married." Sokka joked, noticing how enamored she had been with the neck piece.

Suki did little but smile sheepishly in response. Even with a somewhat shy demeanor at the moment it was easy to notice the jubilance that graced her features. The young Water Tribesman had never seen her quite this happy before. He spent a moment to closely study her, only stopping when a chilled spring breeze rolled in from the ocean.

"We better start heading back, this tunic isn't really the best for chilly weather." The elated woman shivered a bit as she began to lead her fiancé back to their cozy home.

Sokka only smiled and nodded as he silently reflected back on the chaotic day. As smart as he was, he never expected a simple game of Pai-Sho to lead to all this.

**A/N: **After such a long wait (and watching Avatar start to finish again) I finally decided to write this. Right now I'm not quite sure how long it's going to be, but no matter the length I hope you all enjoy it!

I also hope I didn't confuse too many of you with Suki's little arm hold in the middle there, I tried to find a name for it but had no success.

As always leaving a review always makes that next chapter easier to write so feel free to leave a comment.

**In the next chapter:** The gang reunites and are eager to celebrate, but nothing comes so simple for Sokka. Oyaji has some hard news to break to him before he can relax with his friends and family.


End file.
